So the other day I got into an excited discussion when I posted a meme on FaceBook that read like this:
Lyme is a multi-systemic illness, and may affect every part of the body causing fatigue, stiff neck, headaches, light and sound sensitivity, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), anemia, dizziness, joint and muscle pain, brain fog, tingling, numbness and burning sensations of the extremities, memory and concentration problems, difficulties with sleep (both falling asleep and frequent awakening), chest pain and palpitations and/or psychiatric symptoms like depression and anxiety.
You may have heard of the “Chronic Lyme disease” fanatics (though there is a real, different thing called PLDS (Post Lyme Disease Syndrome). They were a contributing factor to sinking the only Lyme disease vaccine that was ever on the market. It’s not clear if we’ll get another. ()
Your dog can be vaccinated against the tick-borne Lyme disease, but you can’t…
[…]
…as always, there will be protests to contend with from anti-vaccine and related advocates, such as individuals who claim to suffer from chronic Lyme disease, a condition distinct from Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome but for which little evidence supports its existence. ( )
October 4, 2007 The New England Journal of Medicine publishes a study entitled: A Critical Appraisal of “Chronic Lyme Disease” and the conclusion of the study states…
…CONCLUSIONS
Chronic Lyme disease is the latest in a series of syndromes that have been postulated in an attempt to attribute medically unexplained symptoms to particular infections. Other examples that have now lost credibility are “chronic candida syndrome” and “chronic Epstein–Barr virus infection.” The assumption that chronic, subjective symptoms are caused by persistent infection with B. burgdorferi is not supported by carefully conducted laboratory studies or by controlled treatment trials. Chronic Lyme disease, which is equated with chronic B. burgdorferi infection, is a misnomer, and the use of prolonged, dangerous, and expensive antibiotic treatments for it is not warranted.
More references…
- The Lyme Wars – The New Yorker
- Chronic Lyme disease: it sounds so legit | So much science, so little time
- Does Everybody Have Chronic Lyme Disease? Does Anyone? – Science-Based Medicine
- Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome | Lyme Disease | CDC
- Predator Doctors Take Advantage of Patients With ‘Chronic Lyme’ Scam – The Daily Beast
- Lyme Disease: Questionable Diagnosis and Treatment QuackWatch.org
- Chronic Lyme disease myth – reviewing the evidence
- Chronic Lyme disease–myth or science?
- Chronic Lyme Disease – Another Negative Study – Science-Based Medicine (April 6, 2016)
- The History of the Lyme Disease Vaccine | History of Vaccines
- Political Science: Chronic Lyme Disease – Science-Based Medicine
- Does Everybody Have Chronic Lyme Disease? Does Anyone? – Science-Based Medicine Dr. Harriet Hall
- Lyme disease – RationalWiki
- Real Housewife, Fake Disease – The Daily Beast
- The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe – Timeline
- Antiscience and ethical concerns associated with advocacy of Lyme disease. – PubMed – NCBI
- Letter: Antiscience and ethical concerns associated with advocacy of Lyme disease | Lyme Disease, Science, And Society: Camp Other
- Lyme disease researchers seek consensus as number of cases grows: Despite gaps in scientific understanding, promising prevention and control measures for the tick-borne disease are available but underutilized, researchers say — ScienceDaily
- The Lyme Wars | The New Yorker
- The controversy over the chronic form of Lyme disease – BBC News
The treatment many people undergo for this so-called chronic Lyme disease is a long-term schedule of antibiotics. Reading where the October 4, 2007 NEJM study concluded saying: “…the use of prolonged, dangerous, and expensive antibiotic treatments for it is not warranted.” so I also decided to look for information on The Risk Of Long-Term Antibiotic Treatments:
- CDC Shares Risks Associated with Long-Term Antibiotic Therapy for Chronic Lyme Disease
- Long-term antibiotic therapy ineffective for persistent Lyme symptoms
- New York chronic Lyme bill: Long-term antibiotics are dangerous and ineffective.
- Long-Term Antibiotic Use For Lyme Disease Doesn’t Work, Study Finds
- Short-Term Antibiotic Treatment Has Differing Long-Term Impacts on the Human Throat and Gut Microbiome
- Lyme Disease: Long Term Antibiotics May Not Help | Time
- Randomized Trial of Longer-Term Therapy for Symptoms Attributed to Lyme Disease — NEJM
- Antibiotics: Misuse puts you and others at risk – Mayo Clinic